Swine Flu Vaccine Maker Told to Hold It
Updated 8:15 AM EST, Wed, Oct 14, 2009
A Connecticut company that is developing a promising swine flu vaccine will have to wait until next year to gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
In June, ProteIn Sciences Corp. of Meriden signed a $147 million, five-year contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new influenza vaccine.
Unlike current vaccines on the market, Protein Sciences' process does not involve growing the whole virus in chicken eggs, the Waterbury Republican-American reports. Instead, the company produces a protein from the virus inside insect cells, which are purified to become a basic part of a human vaccine.
Daniel Adams, president and chief executive officer Protein Sciences, told the newspaper he initially expected FDA approval in September.
"It wasn't a delay, their advisory committee had all these other licensed manufacturers they were working with and they ran out of time," he told the Republican-American.
Adams said if the approval comes in January, the company expects to produce vaccine for the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is expected to peak in the middle of 2010.
In Connecticut, the H1N1 vaccine is arriving in limited quantities because it is still being produced, according to William Gerrish, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
First Published: Oct 14, 2009 6:52 AM EST
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